BMC's Greg Van Avermaet survived an epic day of racing in Gent-Wevelgem but was unable to contest for the win after being distanced by the break of the day and his main classics rivals. The Belgian eventually finished 36th while teammate Daniel Oss was forced to fly the team colours and eventually finished eighth as Luca Paolini (Katusha) took the biggest win of his long career.
However, Van Avermaet at least survived the day relatively unscathed with the six-hour race battered by rain and severe crosswinds. Teammate Michael Schär was not so lucky and was transported to hospital for checks after crashing. Considering Van Avermaet crashed heavily in Friday’s E3 Harelbeke and carried injuries in Gent-Wevelgem, BMC will be relatively relieved that their team leader came through the race unharmed.
“He was in the group but he wasn’t 100 per cent,” team director Valerio Piva told Cyclingnews.
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“He finished the race but when the break went clear he wasn’t able to go with those guys. He was strong and felt good but on the Kemmelberg he was just missing 20 metres and when they went full gas he was dropped but we’ve still finished eighth.”
At one point during the race it was reported that Van Avermaet had crashed out of the race and had been taken to hospital but Piva bluntly clarified the situation at the finish.
“He didn’t crash. That’s shit information from the race radio. It’s Schär who is in the hospital but they took the wrong number. Greg never crashed.”
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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